One thing that fascinates me every new year is the number of reading goals and challenges that pop up everywhere. I’d love to know whether you participate! Let’s do a survey to find out! I admit I don’t set a reading goal, mostly because I think it would stress me out if I fell behind. […]
12 Days of Christmas…Reader Style!
Around our house, the Christmas music has been playing since the beginning of November. And I’m not tired of it yet. There are songs I could listen to all year (looking at you “Go Tell It On the Mountain” and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”). There are other songs that I skip every time (I […]
May I Have Your Autograph
I was in fourth grade the first time I ever got a book that had been signed by the author. Children’s author Barbara M. Joosse had come to visit our school to talk about writing (and I even got to work with her on my own story). At the end of her visit, I was […]
Just the Highlights
Psst. Over here. I have a secret. You might love me for it. Or you might want to throw a book at me. Okay, here it is … I don’t only write books. I also write in books. Both electronic books and (gulp) print books. I can’t remember the first time I did it. I […]
When Real Life Sneaks In & #Giveaway
You know what’s funny? After writing more than a dozen books, I sometimes think that I must have mined everything from my own life that I possibly could by now. But then I’m writing along and BOOM—there’s something from my life on the page. Again. Without revealing any spoilers, I thought I’d share a few […]
Story Time
It’s inevitable: at the beginning of every month, I wonder, “How did it get to be [fill in name of month here] already? I am constantly marveling at (maybe more like lamenting) how fast time passes. I mean, summer just started, and now my kids start school next week? Or, harder still, my oldest was […]
Signs you may have T-TBR…and what to do about it
I have to confess something to you: I have a problem. You’ve heard of a TBR (to be read), right? Well, my problem is related. It happens when a TBR grows and grows until it becomes T-TBR (Toppling-TBR). Symptoms include: 1) Your bookshelves are so full that you have to arrange the books two rows […]
To Finish or Not to Finish?
Does anyone else remember the Ramona Quimby books by Beverly Cleary? I devoured those books in probably third grade or so…and there’s one part I still remember today. Ramona had to write a book report, only she didn’t really like the book she’d read, so she got up in front of the class and ended […]
Author + Reader = Story Magic & #giveaway
One of my favorite parts of writing a book is the moment it goes from being mine to being ours. And by ours, I mean, mine as the author, but also yours as the reader. Because yes, as the author I dreamed up these characters and put them in these situations and decided how they […]
Loving the Unlikable Character
A few years back, there was a certain novel people couldn’t stop talking about (I won’t name the book, but it was secular, not Christian and not romance). The reviews were fantastic and everyone seemed to love it—so I decided to give it a read. I have never been so disappointed in a book in […]
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